The ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) is one of the most evolving tech fields in the world. It takes the internet and the concept of connectivity to a whole new level by interconnecting not only between people but, well, everything. It is all about connecting the unconnected, or in other words, establishing data transfer between devices that usually seem unrelated to each other and unfit for the internet. But in doing so for the right pupposes enhances the effectiveness and quality of everyday activities of every aspect. So, high tech giants like Intel and IBM are working on the digitalization of various devices like lights, surveillance systems and public transport equipment to designate them with the ability of gathering information out of the surroundings, because it can have a major role in improving and developing society into the 21st century. Allegedly, the key component of managing all major activities is real time data. It just lacks proper management.
IoT is the idea about having every device connected to the internet. A concept that should improve many existing technologies. The data gathered from the surrounding places is stored in a cloud and shared between devices.
Why connect everything to the internet? As much efficient (or not) society is right now, there are ways to make it more efficient to manage, in terms of basic services, communication, transport, retail, information and many other aspects. For now everything is dependent on real time data, that is, information about people, traffic, pollution, waste. Analysis of that data as well as statistics based on everyday data gathering in order to, let’s say, forecast a meltdown that may be coming ahead. To keep everything under control IoT technology is the solution in most cases.
The biggest tech companies developing this field are Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and their partners. With Cisco developing routers and communication infrastructure, intel concentration on improving processing power of the IoT devices, and big data management.
In big urban cities where a lot of action is going on, much effort is needed to keep things functioning and maintained. Traffic lights, surveillance cameras, basic services. But most cities have a steady rising population and they have to cope with ever increasing traffic density, energy consumption, water consumption, pollution, garbage collection. The list goes on…
With the technology in hand, we are able to build smarter cities improving all their operations. For example, smart traffic light systems with cameras monitoring the traffic changing the lights to the advantage of the vehicles that would otherwise stand on a red light whilst passing nobody. Maybe smart garbage collecting systems with autonomous underground pipes. The essential part in this is, of course, the installation of sensors and cameras, for instance to monitor and collect data on traffic to be able to regulate it in a smarter way. Then all of the sensors need to be inter connected by a strong communication utility, such as 5G. Then all this data needs to be sent and stored on the cloud or some data center. One way or the other, the final thing is a robust computer to analyze all of the data, report critical information to the relevant authorities and calculate statistics prediction and prepare solutions that will influence the decision making. data is essential for a smart city. So data security is on top priority. These data centers automatically become very vulnerable.
However, this also raises the concern about whether or not to allow government bodies to use this data and where do we draw the line between using the data for the safety of the public and becoming a surveillant state like China. The answer lies within our trust in those who are responsible for the data management solutions, and who owns the data; whether it’s Hi-Tech companies, government bodies or the citizens.
Smart grid and energy production efficiency improved with Intel’s sensor and energy monitoring systems. That is to both make energy production smart and efficient and reduce its consumption.
Even smart cities today like Dubai have a mobile app that allows its citizens to use the city’s services like call a taxi or pay the electric bill.
Barcelona installed so-called ‘smart street lights’ that adapt to the activity happening in the streets and roads. They are saving millions of dollars in electricity by simply implementing a sophisticated way to turn the lights on only when a vehicle is present.
Digitalization is the core part of the third industrial revolution. It’s the transition to the digital environments. Media, data, accounts and even currency are now stored in a digital form and not physical. Because digital proved to be more reliable, faster and efficient. The world has been in this process since the invention of the semiconductor. To apply the internet of things is connecting the unconnected. The amount of things that were connected to the internet surpassed the amount of people connected somewhere in the end of the 2000s. Things like medical equipment, weather sensors and vehicles were upgraded with SoC (bubble- system on chip) type microcomputers with on-board Atom or Arm processors. As part of Intel’s gateway solutions for the internet of things, that can connect many devices simultaneously and collect their data and transmit it to the cloud. Intel contributes largely to the digitalization of IoT devices by offering high performance and versatility processors to meet the needs. With advanced technologies like these the option to integrate AI and machine learning to this process is open.
We are now able to see how the world developed for the past 15 years since IoT began implementation. And this is only the beginning. The digital age is beginning to unveil its shape.
Chief Information Officer Ted Ross said:
“Digital is the only way to engage four million people. If you look at Pew Research Group, over 77% of Americans now have smartphones. With that kind of capability, whether you’re on the bus, whether you’re at your workplace, whether you’re at home-if you can digitally connect with the LA government, then you can get what you need to know when you need to know it.”
Transportation is an essential part of any city’s functionality therefore improving this aspect will improve every other aspect of the city with it. IoT contributes to the traffic flow of a city in a number of areas.
Members of IEEE are working on devices that connect vehicles to the internet providing more in-vehicle services and promoting autonomous driving.
In terms of vehicle parking solutions in urban streets, solutions like Acer Smart Parking & e-Ticketing take place. Acer ITS had integrated e-ticketing, license plate and image recognition, cloud service and mobile parking app to form an intelligent parking cloud service which provides services for the private transport on street parking and off street parking. Think of an application that tells you where you can locate a parking space.
When it comes to public transportation Google Maps and Moovit mobility app are significant IoT solutions for the troubles that came with using public transport. Finding routes to any given destination at real time has never been easier. Not only that but the timings are also in real time. This ability comes along with the technologies that track the location of the buses and connecting them to the internet to share this data.
We’ve seen that IoT takes place in many fields and has the potential to improve many life properties, make urban cities manageable, make better and faster services based on real time information and many more. Just by connecting physical things to the internet to share data between each other.
The only problem is that we don’t have enough of it wide spread yet. This technology exists only in the most developed cities in the world, most of them being in North America and Europe. However, this idea begins to take notice in the rest of the world as well. One thing is for sure, technology is taking over as we proceed deeper and deeper into the 21st century. Everything is becoming “smart”, and slowly develops a small mind of its own. Or is governed by a system of systems within an ecosystem that interconnects everything.
All of these are beginning to shape the vast organisms that will be the IoT smart cities of the future to come.
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This Article only scratched the surface of IOT. Here’s audible list of the best internet of things audio books:
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.